


Love Hurts

by drwhogirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Chronic Pain, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 18:18:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12281913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drwhogirl/pseuds/drwhogirl
Summary: Thanks to JCapasso916 for encouraging me to engage in a little writing therapy whilst my joints have been bad the past few days





	Love Hurts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JWade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/gifts).



> Thanks to JCapasso916 for encouraging me to engage in a little writing therapy whilst my joints have been bad the past few days

“Mick, I have come to you because you are the only person that I trust to give me an honest answer.”

“About what?” Mick looked up from his typewriter at where Ketch was stood beside his desk. Mick considered offering him a seat but the offer was always refused. Without fail.

“I fear that my health may be deteriorating, and wondered whether you thought it prudent that I tell Doctor Hess.” His tone was that of someone discussing the weather but Mick could see that Ketch was worried. Really worried.

“Are you mad? She’d have you put down for a cold. What’s wrong with you anyway?”

“Lots of little things that leave me functioning less efficiently than I used to. My hands seize up if held in one position for too long. My vertebrae in my lumbar back feel as if they’re constantly grinding together. Just little things that make completing my work significantly more difficult and tiring.” Now that he said it, he looked exhausted. Mick wasn’t sure how he’d missed it before but he could see bags beginning to form under his eyes and his cuffs were only half done up where his fingers didn’t work well enough to finish the job. Mick couldn’t help reaching out to fix them for him.

“Don’t do anything yet. I’ll see what I can do.” Mick paused before asking his next question. “How long has this been going on for?”

“Two years.”

Mick had chosen the wrong moment to take a sip of his water and almost choked on it. “Two years!? Bloody hell mate, and you never thought to get it checked?”

Ketch just shrugged. “Hard to do that without alerting Hess, I did my own research and determined there was nothing magical about my condition so chose not to say anything.”

“So why now? Why are you telling me now?”

“Because it’s getting worse, before too long someone is bound to notice that I can no longer function effectively and if it comes to it-“

“Don’t you dare.”

“Mick. If it comes to it, I need you to put a bullet in my head. I believe you’re right and Hess would put me down if she felt I was of no further use but not before torturing every possible piece of information from me.”

Mick didn’t really know what to say, he didn’t want to agree to what was being asked of him but the desperation he could see peeking out from the other man’s carefully constructed masks made his decision for him. “If necessary then fine but if remotely possible we will not allow it to get to that.”

“Agreed. I can’t imagine they can do anything worse than what I experience on a daily basis but this whole situation has lead to an unfortunate amount of weakness.”

Mick knew that was the heart of the matter, that was why Ketch had come to see him. Even when they were at school Ketch had been scared to be weak or vulnerable with anyone. But if he already felt like he was weak then he would have also felt he had nothing else to lose.

“You’re not weak Ketch. Not even close. We’ll find out what’s wrong and we’ll fix it.”

And he tried, he really did. But everything they tried, every spell and potion, none of it helped the pain. Ketch managed to keep working and they were both relieved to be sent to America together. That is until they were facing Hess with Mick ranting about how amazing the Winchesters were. Ketch noticed the nod from Hess. That was his cue. He didn’t know yet who he would kill. Her or Mick.

Who was he kidding. He knew the moment he walked into Mick’s office that day. He knew he wanted to kill the old witch. But now the moment was finally here, his hands had chosen that moment to betray him. As he tried to pull it out, his fingers seized and the gun fell to the floor with a deafening clatter. Both Hess and Mick jumped at the sound and Ketch could suddenly feel both sets of eyes fixed on him. Mick, as the only one who knew what had just happened, was first to react.

With barely a moment’s thought, he picked up the gun and shot Hess himself. The gun went clattering to the floor for a second time as Mick processed the fact that he’d not only taken a life but doomed them both to be hunted down for the rest of their, he imagined rather short, lives. He barely registered the hand on his shoulder but when he did, he leaned into the touch. That’s how they stayed for the longest of times, stood over the corpse of the woman who raised them and relishing in the feeling of finally being free.

“We should go.” Ketch finally told Mick, moving his hand away and both of them headed towards the door.

Knowing the Men of Letters had trackers in their cars, they both decided it would be a good idea to walk to the next town over and steal a car. Mick knew that it was more painful for Ketch than he tried to let on but had no idea to what extent putting one foot in front of the other was absolute torture.

Finally though, they found a car and a motel in which to stay the night.

“I’ve got to ask.” Mick finally spoke for the first time in hours. “Which of us were you going to kill?”

Ketch collapsed face first onto the bed so his reply was muffled by his pillow. Allowing himself a minute for some of the pain to subside he finally rolled over to face Mick. “Do you really need to ask? Mick I wasn’t going to kill you. The thought barely crossed my mind.”

“But it did cross your mind.” Mick pointed out.

“Yes. But only because I still have some of their programming screaming inside my head to toe the line and obey every order.”

Mick nodded, satisfied with that answer but it reminded him of something else that he’d been wondering. “Why me?”

“What?”

“Why did you come to me for help with your joints? And why wait so long before coming to me?”

Ketch sighed, in all honesty he was surprised the question hadn’t come up sooner. He carefully thought through his answer before replying. “I waited for so long because I kept hoping it would go away but it never did. And as for why I went to you. Anyone else I asked would have gone to Hess for me but you… you I trusted to keep it between us.”

Mick froze at that. He would have kept it between them, of course he would, but Ketch couldn’t possibly have known that without knowing why. Without knowing that Mick had been hopelessly in love with him since school. Ketch noticed Mick’s reaction but chose not to say anything, assuming he’d said the wrong thing. But Mick needed to know. Needed to know if Ketch knew what he thought he did. “How did you know I wouldn’t say anything?”

“I didn’t know. I hoped. I didn’t know that you wouldn’t betray me but I decided it was a risk worth taking and if you had then I would have been fine with the death that would follow.” Mick was slightly stunned. Of all the answers he expected, that wasn’t one of them. Mick decided to drop it after that. Ketch had already opened up far more than he’d expected. That being said, Mick’s mind was reeling. What could Ketch have possibly meant by the fact he wouldn’t have minded dying if Mick had betrayed him. Mick quickly dismissed the first idea where Ketch felt the same for him as he did for Ketch and tried to get some sleep. Putting it out of his mind until he could look at it under the harsh light of day.

Mick was the first to wake but he didn’t move, just stayed in bed thinking. It was therefore, not overly surprising that Ketch thought he was still asleep when he woke himself. Ketch sat up and glanced over at Mick before muttering to himself. “Get it out of your head Ketch, there’s no way he feels the same about you.” Mick heard him get up and head into the bathroom. Only then did he finally sit up. Had he really just heard what he thought he did?

He sat up and waited for Ketch to come out of the bathroom, now showered and fully dressed. Mick had a plan of attack for every eventuality when it finally came to having the conversation but it went out the window the moment he saw Ketch. “How do you feel about me?” He asked.

Ketch stopped, looking very like something small and furry about to be hit by a runaway car. It took him a moment to realise that Mick must have heard him talking to himself. “You know what you heard, it can’t be that hard to piece it together.”

That was enough for Mick. He got out of bed and closed the distance between the two of them. Ketch watched him warily but relaxed when Mick pulled him into a kiss. They didn’t know what they were going to do or how their lives were going to pan out. All that mattered now was that they had each other.


End file.
